The Secret of Christmas
by fallinrain
Summary: Kelsi's lost her Christmas spirit after a set of unfortunate and even annoying circumstances. It's up to Ryan to help her get it back. Ryelsi, with slight hints of T/G, Z/S, C/T and J/M. Five-shot. COMPLETE.
1. Bah Humbug

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Well I guess I own the three annoying random people, but nothing else.**

**A/N: This'll be a three part story. I went and saw 'A Christmas Carol' a few days ago and that inspired this in a way. It takes place during their senior year. Not much else to say about it really, other than I hope you all like it! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Reviews are some of the best Christmas presents a writer can get, so if you feel so inspired please review. :)**

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"Kelsi! Are you okay?" Kelsi Nielsen squinted up into the face of a concerned Gabriella Montez.

"Peachy." School hadn't even officially started and already Kelsi was in a terrible mood. Her day had gotten off to a bad start when she woke up and realized that she had missed her alarm due to studying late the night before for finals. She always like to wake up well over an hour before school began so she would have time for her usual morning routine which consisted of a shower, a nice breakfast, and getting to the school early enough so she could spend some time in the music room practicing. She had a piano at home she could practice on, but there was something about being in the music room at school in the morning that she liked. She wasn't exactly sure why that was the case, but it worked for her and so had become part of her routine. On this day, however, she had woken up with just enough time to get dressed and quickly brush her teeth before hopping in her car and driving to East High. She had figured that if she skipped her shower and her breakfast, she'd make it to school in time to practice. She had been wrong.

The night before on the news, the weatherman had announced that there would be a light rainfall tomorrow. The rain had certainly been falling, but it was not the light winter rain that had been forecasted. No, instead, rain was simply pouring out of the sky as if all the rain clouds in the world had somehow conspired to drown their poor city. Kelsi had never seen a rain quite like this in all of her life and had been so relieved to find an umbrella in her car. Because of the rain, the drive to school had taken twice as long as it usually did and by the time she finally arrived, she had less than ten minutes to park and get to homeroom. While she had been grateful for having an umbrella, that gratitude had quickly turned to hatred as the thing had jammed somehow – how she had no idea – and refused to open. It might have been okay if she had gotten a parking spot near one of the doors, but that would have been too convenient. Instead, she found herself parked about as far from the building as possible and had to run across the parking lot as fast as she could to avoid getting completely soaked. Of course, that plan like so many of her others that day had failed. She had become drenched within about five seconds of exiting her car, but had still run for shelter as fast as she could. She had hoped that her bad luck would end once she got inside, but again, she was wrong.

She had entered the building and barely had time to slow down before she slipped on the wet floor, sending her sliding halfway across the hallway before she landed on the hard floor with a thud. She had luckily avoided hitting her head, but most of her weight had fallen on her wrist which was now practically screaming in pain. She had known it was bad when all around her, everyone else in the hallway let out a collective gasp. This had led her to the current moment, with Gabriella kneeling down next to her looking worried. Kelsi's glasses had gone flying when she hit the floor and she wasn't exactly sure where they had gone. As a direct result, she could barely make out any of the people around her. Probably a good thing since most of them were laughing anyway.

"Nice entrance, loser," some random boy said as he walked past.

"Good thing you stay behind the piano at the plays," another boy, most likely a friend to the first one, sneered. "Otherwise they'd have to stop the show every time you fell off the stage." Kelsi could feel her face growing hotter by the second and felt the sting of unwanted and angry tears.

"Wow, that was seriously pathetic," a random girl, who was with the two random boys, added. "Thanks for the laugh though!"

"Ignore them," Gabriella muttered, though Kelsi could tell she was angry. "That could've happened to anyone."

"Are you serious?" the first boy said. "A fall like that could only happen to a geek like her."

"Leave her alone!" Gabriella smirked as Troy Bolton approached them, looking angry.

"Oh uh...hey Bolton..." the second boy stammered. "We were just having some fun..."

"You call verbally attacking someone who happens to be one of my closest friends fun?" At his words, the boy's face slowly turned an interesting shade of white.

"You're actually friends with her?" the random girl spoke up. "I would've thought you'd have better taste." Her face brightened as they were joined by Chad Danforth. "Oh hey Chad," she started. "I don't know if you're aware of it, but your friend is friends with this loser."

"Actually I was aware of it," Chad shot her a smile. "You know who else is friends with her?"

"Who?" the girl asked, watching as the smile faded from Chad's face and was replaced by a more serious expression.

"Me. And as far as I'm concerned, the only losers here are the three of you. Why don't you all get out of here?" he snapped.

"Oh like we're going to leave just because you told us too," the first boy started, but stopped when he saw the glares Chad and Troy were giving him. "On second thought..." he turned to his two friends. "Let's get outta here." Chad watched them go and then turned back to his friends, noticing that there were several other students still lingering around watching them.

"Don't you all have somewhere to be?" he asked the group as a whole. "The show's over, get to class." At his words, the normal commotion and activity in the school hallways resumed and he smirked proudly. "And that is how you do it," he grinned to himself.

"You didn't hit your head, did you?" Gabriella asked the smaller girl.

"No," Kelsi winced at the pain in her wrist. "I landed on my wrist pretty hard though." She let Troy and Gabriella help her up, while Chad moved in front of her.

"I think you may need these," he offered, handing her back her glasses.

"Thanks Chad," she said, taking them from him and slipping them back on. "And thanks for sticking up for me guys," she added shyly.

"Well, hey, we can't have people messing with our favorite Playmaker now can we?" Troy asked her, smiling.

"You should go to the nurse and have her look at your arm," Gabriella advised. "I'll go with you," she added.

"What about homeroom?" Kelsi asked.

"It's the last day before finals. I don't think Ms. Darbus will care, but we'll tell her what happened." Troy assured her.

"Well on the plus side..." Kelsi muttered. Chad and Troy waved to the girls and headed off in the direction of homeroom, while Gabriella led Kelsi to see the school nurse. They had just rounded the corner to the nurse's office when they heard a familiar voice coming from the opposite end of the hallway.

"Move it people!" A few seconds later, Sharpay Evans came into view with Ryan trailing behind her. Sharpay came to an abrupt stop when she spotted Gabriella and Kelsi. "What happened to you?" she asked Kelsi, looking her over.

"Rain among other things," Kelsi answered, timidly. Sharpay had been working on changing since last summer, but the girl still had some work to do. Kelsi couldn't help still feeling a little intimidated by her.

"You're not going to stay in those clothes all day are you?" Sharpay asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Well seeing as I don't have anything else to wear..." Kelsi trailed off.

"I might have a spare outfit in my locker," Sharpay offered, surprising both Kelsi and Gabriella. "The pants may be a little long, but it'll work."

"You keep a spare outfit in your locker?" Gabriella asked, looking at her as if she was some sort of alien.

"Sometimes. In case of a fashion related emergency." Sharpay glanced at Kelsi again. "And this would appear to be one. Ryan, go tell Ms. Darbus I'll be late," Sharpay ordered. "I'll be right back," she added to the girls before darting down the hallway.

"Your sister keeps a spare outfit in her locker?" Gabriella asked Ryan.

"Your sister is willing to let me borrow it?" Kelsi added. Ryan shrugged.

"Sometimes with Sharpay, it's better to expect the unexpected," he said simply. It was then he noticed Kelsi cradling her wrist to her stomach. "What happened?"

"I decided to go hallway skating and fell," she winced. "Not my best moment."

"Let me see," he said softly, taking her hand in one of his and gently running his other hand along her wrist. "It seems swollen," he decided.

"That's uh...why we're here," Kelsi managed. Gabriella shot a curious look at the girl, wondering why Kelsi seemed so nervous all of a sudden. "You um...you better get to homeroom. I think it just started." Ryan smiled at both of the girls and nodded.

"I'll see you both later," he said. "Hope you wrist feels better Kelsi," he added before hurrying down the hallway. Kelsi watched him go and jolted when Gabriella lightly tugged her non-injured arm.

"Come on, let's get you checked out."

"Oh yeah..." Kelsi shot another look in the direction Ryan had gone before turning back to Gabriella. "Right."

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"Open up already!" It was now lunchtime and Kelsi had finally made it to her locker for the first time that day. The nurse had decided that she had suffered a wrist sprain and in addition to bandaging it up, she had also given Kelsi ice to put on it with instructions to come back later in the day for more. By the time she was done there, homeroom was long since over and she had missed part of her first class. Usually the day before finals was kind of a lost day. Most teachers didn't even bother to try and teach anything, usually letting the students having some sort of holiday party during the class time. Kelsi had been looking forward to the idea, but had been unpleasantly surprised to find that all of her teachers so far had decided to do an intense study session in lieu of a party. Kelsi had spent the morning talking to teachers and trying her best to take notes, but it was difficult considering that she had to do so with her left hand. It would figure that Kelsi would manage to fall and land on her right side and the bandage made it nearly impossible to even hold any kind of pen or pencil.

On the plus side, Sharpay had come through with an outfit for Kelsi so at least she was dry. The downside of that was that the clothes were a little too big and the pants were too long, just as Sharpay had predicted. Kelsi had nearly tripped over them several times. The morning had been nothing short of frustrating and now she couldn't get her locker open. She let out an aggravated sigh as her stomach rumbled. Of course. She hadn't eaten anything that morning and now she was starving. She tried to open her locker again and this time let out a small scream when it wouldn't open.

"Need some help?" she turned at the sound of Ryan's voice.

"That would be great," she said gratefully. She moved to step out of the way to let him get to her locker, but somehow managed to trip over the pants again and started to fall backwards. In a lightning quick movement, Ryan reached forward and pulled her towards him to keep her from falling. She looked up at him with the intent of thanking him, but stopped when she realized how close they were. "Thanks," she whispered finally, feeling her face flush.

"You're welcome," he murmured, studying her with an intensity that made her nervous.

"You can...um...let go of me now," she managed.

"Oh right," he said sheepishly. She pulled away and rattled off her combination for him, trying to figure out why her stomach suddenly felt like it was doing flips inside of her. He held her bag for her while she switched around some of her books and then they headed off to the cafeteria together.

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Kelsi's afternoon classes had followed the example of her morning classes by having intensive review sessions instead of having parties. By the end of the day, she was so tired of school and couldn't wait until finals were over the following day and Christmas break could start. But at the very least, she figured that the worst of the day was surely behind her. And once again she was wrong.

She was at her locker, when her cell phone rang. It was her mother calling with bad news. Apparently the company her dad worked for was sending him on an urgent business trip to Washington, D.C. As a result, he wouldn't be home for Christmas. Her mom then told her that her grandparents wouldn't be able to make it out for the holiday either. By the time Kelsi hung up, she was fighting tears. She had been looking forward to seeing her grandparents, as she hadn't seem them in a couple of years due to them both having various health problems that made it hard for them to travel and Kelsi's parents being unable to afford airplane tickets so they could go out for a visit. This year, her grandparents were both in good health but apparently weren't able to find a flight to fly them out.

"Kelsi?" It was Ryan. "What's wrong?"

"Everything!" she exclaimed. "Everything has gone terribly wrong all day and now..." she trailed off.

"What happened?" he asked.

"My dad has to go to D.C. on business," Kelsi sniffed. "And now my grandparents won't be able to make it for Christmas either."

"Aw, I'm sorry Kelsi," he said softly. She shook her head.

"Finals are going to be impossible tomorrow and I still have Christmas shopping to do. The traffic is going to be insane and the malls are going to be crowded," she said, shaking her head. "It's going to be awful."

"You don't know that," he started.

"How can it not be?" she cut him off. "I'm just waiting to see what else can go wrong now."

"I know you've had a bad day and are understandably disappointed, but..." he paused, choosing his words carefully. "It's still a magical time of year and anything can happen." She let out a huff.

"What's so magical about it? This time of year is supposed to be this like wonderful time, but have you ever noticed how people start acting this time of year? It's supposed to be, you know, goodwill towards man and all that. But instead, it's almost like people look for new ways to be mean to other people, most of which they don't even know. How's anyone supposed to feel the magic of Christmas when things are the way they are?"

"Christmas is about believing, regardless of what our circumstances are," Ryan said after a moment. "Little kids believing in Santa Claus, people believing and finding joy in the birth of a Savior on a silent night. Believing in things like goodwill towards your fellow man, even if no one else acts that way. It's a time for miracles, big ones and small ones. It's about believing in the impossible and being with your family and friends..." he trailed off at the look on Kelsi's face. "If not in person, at least in spirit," he added. Kelsi gave him a small smile.

"Those are all beautiful statements, Ryan. And I know you're right but...right now, if Christmas is about believing, I can't help believing that it's going to be awful this year. Bah Humbug and all that," she sighed. "I better go...my mom sounded upset on the phone. Tell your sister I'll bring this outfit back to her tomorrow." She started to leave, but he stopped her.

"Hold on, I'll walk you to your car." he said, glancing outside. The rain had actually stopped around lunchtime but was starting up all over again. He quickly took off his jacket. "Here. So you don't get soaked again."

"What about you?"

"I'll live. Besides I have an umbrella." He waved it at her. He then grabbed her backpack and set it at her feet, indicating for her to turn around. "Come on, I don't want you to get drenched again. I mean...it won't keep you completely dry, but it'll help." She couldn't help smiling as she turned around so he could help her into it.

"Thanks Ryan." He reached down for her backpack and slipped it over one of his shoulders. He stepped outside first, opening the umbrella before she joined him, and the two of them walked quickly across the parking lot to her car. He waited patiently while she unlocked it. She offered to drive him back to the building as he still had to wait for Sharpay, so he got in the passenger seat and they drove back towards the building. "Here, you can take your jacket now," she said as she pulled to a stop. He shook his head.

"That's okay; you can just bring it to school tomorrow. You still have to get in your house," he reminded her. "I'll be fine."

"Well...thanks...I'll see you tomorrow." She gave him a small smile and he surprised her by leaning across the console and giving her a quick, but soft, kiss on the cheek.

"See you tomorrow," he said, as he got out of the car and headed back inside, pausing to turn around and wave at her as she drove away. As he got back in the building to search for his sister, his mission for the holiday season was clear. Somehow he would get Kelsi into the Christmas spirit. No matter what it took.


	2. Joy to the World

**Disclaimer: Same as the first chapter.**

**A/N: I meant to get this up sooner, but was having some minor computer issues and then have been a little busy the past couple of days. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, especially all the reviewers! This chapter is kind of funny because it sort of took on a life of it's own and I ended up with an entire scene I hadn't planned on writing. I see Ryan as someone who would be all about Christmas and into the meaning of it, so he uses something sad to make a point to Kelsi and I think it works pretty well. This was originally going to be a three shot, but with the added scene I'm going to add another chapter to get the entire story in. Next chapter should be up pretty soon and features a little more of the other couples. Hope you all like this one! Reviews = awesome! **

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"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this," Kelsi muttered. It was the first day of Christmas break and a couple of days before Christmas and Ryan had gotten the group together at a local ice skating rink.

"I cannot believe you've never been ice skating before!" he countered.

"And this is supposed to help my lack of Christmas spirit?" she asked. "Do I have to remind you that I just hurt my wrist because I fell on it?" she added, holding up the wrist in question. "I'd just as well watch you all skate and not upgrade my sprain to a break."

"I'm not going to let you fall, I promise," he said.

"You didn't answer my first question," she reminded him.

"Sure it will! They're playing Christmas music, you're with your friends...if nothing else, this'll cheer you up."

"If I don't fall and kill myself, that is."

"I told you, I'm not going to let you fall," he pointed out to the ice skating ring where just about all of their friends were skating already. "See? Everyone else is out there!"

Gabriella and Troy were currently skating around, holding hands and laughing - as were Taylor and Chad, though at the moment Taylor was laughing at him as opposed to with him as he had just avoided crashing into the railing. Sharpay and Zeke were skating next to each other and talking, but not holding hands, at least not right then. Meanwhile, Martha was skating backwards, holding onto both of Jason's hands as he had never been ice skating either. Kelsi sighed. All of them were doing fine, but she still couldn't figure out why she had let Ryan talk her into this.

"I guess..." she said hesitantly. She let him lead her to the rink and looked warily at the ice.

"It's not going to bite," he teased her. He stepped out on the ice first and gave her a light tug. "Come on." Kelsi rested one hand on the railing while she stepped out onto the ice. "Good, now let go of the railing and we'll try moving." She let go of the railing as instructed and they slowly started moving. It didn't take long, however, for her to lose her balance and nearly fall. She reached out for him on impulse and let out a sigh of relief as he managed to keep them both upright. "Okay, let's try something else," he decided, easing his right arm around her waist and taking hold of her left hand with his.

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It had taken a while, but Kelsi had eventually gotten the hang of it and even started having fun. She had progressed to the point of not needing to have Ryan hold onto her, but spent most of the time skating with him all the same. At least up until the last few minutes, when the other girls decided they should all skate together.

"So I've been instructed to ask," Sharpay started, looking at Kelsi. "Are you in the Christmas spirit yet?"

"I'm in a better mood," Kelsi nodded. "But I don't know...this has been a great distraction but..."

"Still feeling more Bah Humbug than Merry Christmas?" Taylor supplied.

"Yeah. I mean, sure this is fun and all but everything that's been bugging me about Christmas is still true," Kelsi shrugged and Sharpay sighed.

"I'll be right back girls...just have to ask Zeke...something," she said, zipping ahead and around until she reached her brother and the rest of the guys.

"What do you suppose is happening with them?" Martha asked.

"Zeke and Sharpay?" Gabriella asked. "He's totally in love with her and I think she's falling for him against her better judgment."

"Better judgment?" Taylor huffed. "Zeke's a great guy. What more does she want?"

"I think Sharpay is a little scared to let her guard down around him for some reason. But even so," Gabriella smiled. "I think they'll be official soon."

"Speaking of official..." Taylor turned towards Kelsi grinning. "What about you and Ryan?"

"We're friends," Kelsi said, though she seemed a lot pinker than she had been a moment ago. "That's all."

"For now," Gabriella teased her. "I think you'll be official soon too."

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"I told you this idea wouldn't work," Sharpay said to Ryan as she skated next to him.

"This was only the first part of the plan," he said. "The goal here was mainly to cheer her up a little bit. Part two starts later on, and after that part three. Part four starts tomorrow."

"I know about part two and part three," Sharpay said, her brow furrowing. "But what's part four?"

"That is for me to know and you to wonder about," he answered, grinning at her.

"You're not going to tell me?" she asked, shocked.

"Sorry Sharpay, that one's a surprise for all of you," Troy cut in. Sharpay's jaw dropped and she turned around, skating backwards.

"Surely you are not telling me that all of you know what it is?"

"I'm afraid we are," Zeke gave her a charming smile. "But don't worry, you'll like it too." Sharpay looked over at him and her eyes lit up.

"You know, Zeke, if you tell me I can keep it a secret from the other girls," she said, giving him her best innocent expression.

"Sorry Sharpay. I can't do that," he shrugged and then smirked as she pouted. "But I will tell you that there will be cookies."

"Cookies?" Her face perked up again. "Are you making those cookies?"

"It's a definite possibility," he nodded, winking at her.

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"The hospital?" Kelsi asked later. The group had grabbed a quick bite to eat at a fast food restaurant when they were done skating, and now they had wound up at the hospital. Kelsi turned to Ryan. "Why are we here?"

"Because there's something you need to see," Ryan smiled at her. "Come on." He led the way over to the children's ward, which was decorated for the holiday season. Kelsi was slightly stunned when a little girl, who looked to be around four years ago, ran over to Ryan.

"Ryan!" the child exclaimed happily and Ryan stooped down to pick her up.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Abigail," he smiled at the child. "Abigail, these are all my friends from my school."

"Hi," the girl said shyly, offering a small wave. The other Wildcats all offered their own greetings to the child and then Ryan set her down as they were joined by an older woman, who Kelsi assumed to be Abigail's mother, considering the strong resemblance between the two of them.

"Oh hello Ryan! It's good to see you again," the woman smiled warmly at him as she bent down to pick up the child.

"Hi Mrs. Thomas," Ryan smiled at her. "I decided I'd bring some friends with me today to stop and say hi to the kids."

"It's so sweet of you all to come here. The children love having visitors," the woman beamed at the group.

"Can I go play now Mommy?" Abigail asked and the woman nodded, setting her back down. She watched as the child scampered across the lobby.

"How's she doing?" Ryan asked.

"Better," the woman smiled sadly. "You caught her on a good day. The new treatment is a little hard on her, but we're hopeful."

"Well this is a time of year for miracles," Ryan offered and the woman looked at him with gratitude.

"Thank you for that, Ryan. We're definitely hoping for a miracle."

"So am I," he said softly. The woman gave them all another smile and then headed back over to her daughter. The Wildcats all stood there in silence for a few seconds.

"Well," Martha was the first to speak. "How should we go about doing this?"

"There's a couple of hallways and then the lobby here," Taylor began. "We can divide into five pairs and split up. One pair can stay here in the lobby talking to any kids who pass through. Then we can send two pairs down each side of hallways and from there each pair can take one side of their respective hallway. That way we can probably get to just about every kid here."

"Sounds good to me," Martha decided and the rest of the agreed. To no one's surprise, Troy and Gabriella volunteered to pair up together while Chad and Taylor also decided to pair up. The four of them headed to the hallway to the left of the main nurses' station. From there, Sharpay agreed to pair up with Zeke while Ryan and Kelsi formed another pair. The four of them headed to the hallway to the right of the nurses' station which left Jason and Martha to hang out with the kids in the lobby. As she went from room to room with Ryan, Kelsi was struck by what she found in each room. The kids ranged in terms of their illnesses or injuries. Some of them would be just fine while others would experience what would most likely be their last Christmas this year. What had surprised Kelsi was that in all of the rooms, the children and their families were celebrating Christmas. There seemed to be some joy, peace and hope found in every room and Kelsi just couldn't understand how it could be possible. As they left the final room, Kelsi had to stop and lean against the wall, tears in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked softly, leaning sideways against the wall beside her.

"That little girl in there wants to make music," Kelsi started. "She wants to write songs and play the piano. That's all she wants," she sniffed. "But she's dying. She's never going to get a chance to learn how to play. She's never going to grow up and fall in love and get married. This might be her last Christmas..."

"We don't know that. There's still hope," Ryan corrected. "She might get her transplant."

"But she may not. She probably won't," Kelsi sniffed again. "So how can they be in there celebrating Christmas when it's all so sad?"

"Because they have faith. Kelsi...what's happening to them is horrible. It's not fair," Ryan chose his next words carefully. "But they choose hope. For them, Christmas isn't about presents or trees or decorations. It's about a child being born that was sent to give hope to the people..."

"So where is the hope?" she cut him off. "We're in a hospital! People die here, Ryan. Children die here! How can there can hope in a place like this?" He moved in front of her and gently placed a hand on either side of her face.

"Life isn't perfect, Kelsi. If it was, children wouldn't die of horrible diseases. I don't know why some kids get sick and others don't. I don't know why some kids get better and others die. It would be so easy to be depressed and angry. These families would have every right to be. But having those feelings won't make everything better. Giving into them won't bring health back to these kids." Ryan paused briefly. "They choose hope because if they didn't, the weight of their situations would destroy them. These parents may not be able to cure their children, but they can give them a merry Christmas. And if it is the last Christmas for some of these kids, at least their parents can know it was a happy one. Hope is not defined by our circumstances, Kelsi. It's always there for us, there are always miracles. Our job is to believe."

"But it's still so sad..."

"I know." Ryan pulled her into a hug. "But even in the midst of sadness, there is joy. You saw it for yourself. We helped bring it to some of these kids." Kelsi smiled slightly and pulled back from him just enough to wipe at her cheeks with her hand.

"I guess," she said softly.

"I know," he countered. "And you made a new friend." Kelsi glanced back towards the room they had just left.

"You really think there's still a chance she might get her transplant?"

"Absolutely," he answered without hesitation. She sighed.

"So am I right in assuming the lesson here is that if these kids and their families can find joy even here in the hospital, than I can find my Christmas spirit?"

"Speaking of which...how's that coming?"

"It's coming," she nodded thoughtfully. "They have joy because they have faith which brings them hope. And according to you, Christmas is about believing," she started.

"Ah, she can be taught!" he teased her. She laughed softly.

"Ryan?"

"Kelsi?"

"We're all going back to your house to watch Christmas movies and stuff right?"

"That would be part three of my plan, yes," he confirmed.

"Do you think we could stop by a music store on the way there?"

"Sure. What for?"

"Well, Mister Christmas, if this holiday is about faith and miracles and believing...and if you can believe that that little girl will get her transplant," Kelsi paused. "And her piano then...well, she's going to need some beginner music books won't she?" Ryan's smile softened and he leaned in to kiss her forehead.

"Yes, she will." He pulled back, but kept an arm around her shoulders. "We should probably get back to the others." Kelsi nodded in agreement and as they walked back to the lobby, Ryan chuckled. "Mister Christmas huh? I like that."


	3. Merry Christmas Eve?

**Disclaimer: Same as the first. I also don't own any of the movies mentioned or the song "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep".**

**A/N: Thanks so much to Winter Sapphire, Dramione x3, digigirl02, Politics and Prose , Rasberry Parfait, & starbuckhan for your reviews! I've been pretty surprised by a few of them and I'm so happy everyone's liked this story so much so far. I also appreciate everyone who has read it, even if you didn't review - though I encourage everyone who reads to review. That'd be great! This story is funny because I keep ending up writing scenes I never intended to. ****As a result, the initial version of this chapter was 12 pages in Microsoft Word! I thought that was way too long so I cut two scenes, which brought it down to 9 pages. One scene was with Zeke and Sharpay, talking about Ryelsi at first and then about their own relationship. The other scene is the girls discussion in the kitchen. I still have both of them saved so if anyone is interested in seeing those, I'll make a companion piece to this story and post them there. Just let me know. This all takes place in the evening of the same day as the last chapter. For the record, at this point in the story the only official couples are Chaylor and Troyella. Everyone else is somewhere between being friends and being a couple. There's a few moments in this chapter you may briefly hate me for, and I actually hope that's the case because that means I actually did what I was trying to do with them. Hope you all like this chapter! Please review. :)**

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"_It's a Wonderful Life_," Gabriella voted.

"No, we should watch _White Christmas_ first!" that was Sharpay.

"How about _Mickey's Christmas Carol_?" Jason offered. "That's a classic."

"I vote for _The Grinch_," Chad put in.

"_The Santa Claus_." Troy's vote.

"Guys, this is ridiculous. We have way too many options on the table right now," Zeke spoke up. "We can probably watch a couple of them, but not all at once." The group was currently in the living room of Ryan and Sharpay's house trying to decide what Christmas movie to watch first.

"Zeke's right. And since five of you have already placed your votes, the rest of us should," Taylor said. "That's me, Martha, Zeke, Ryan and Kelsi."

"I'm going with Mickey," Martha spoke up, siding with Jason. Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi all took turns smiling at each other in response, knowing that Martha would've voted for anything Jason suggested since the girl had developed a crush on him.

"I'm going with Troy's choice," Zeke decided.

"I agree with Gabriella. _It's a Wonderful Life_, all the way," Taylor voted. "Kelsi?"

"_White Christmas_," Kelsi said after a moment's thought.

"Ryan?" Taylor asked.

"I'm going with Sharpay and Kelsi on this one," he said.

"_White Christmas_ it is, then," Taylor said. Ryan went to put the movie in while everyone else got situated. Gabriella and Troy sat down on one of the couches, already snuggling up to each other. Chad and Taylor chose to next to each other on the floor, along with Jason and Martha. Sharpay and Zeke took the other couch, which left the loveseat for Ryan and Kelsi.

"Hey look Kelsi, looks like you and Ryan are going to be on the loveseat," Gabriella giggled. "How appropriate." Kelsi felt her face turn bright red as she took her seat. Troy nudged his girlfriend.

"It's not nice to tease people," he said seriously, but then chuckled. "Even if you are right," he whispered, soft enough so only Gabriella could hear him. Ryan dimmed the lights in the room before taking his seat next to Kelsi, much to her relief.

"If this doesn't completely put you in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will," Ryan said, lowering his voice so as not to disturb the others. "We have Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, and Danny Kaye...all singing the songs of the great Irving Berlin. You gotta love that."

"This is one of my favorites," she admitted. She wasn't exactly sure how it happened, but as they were watching the movie Kelsi found herself going from sitting as far away from Ryan as she could to resting her head on his shoulder. She smiled at they got to the scene where Rosemary Clooney's character, Betty Haynes, couldn't sleep and Bing Crosby's character, Bob Wallace, started singing the song "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep". For whatever reason, Kelsi adored the whole scene. Maybe it was because of the lyrics or the soothing music itself. Maybe it was Rosemary Clooney's reaction to the song as her character was serenaded. Whatever the reason, it was one of her favorite scenes in the entire movie. "..._when my bankroll is getting small, I think of when I had none at all,_" she softly sang along, before realizing that Ryan could hear her. She pulled back to look at him and let out a sheepish giggle when he grinned at her. He then started singing along himself.

"_...and one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds,_" Kelsi smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder once more, while he continued singing softly."_If you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep. And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings._"

---------------------------------

Kelsi sighed happily as the title song started. She always loved the ending of this movie, with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye dressed in their Santa outfits and the doors opening behind them while they sang to reveal the snow falling. Giving them all the white Christmas that they had been hoping for.

"I love this movie," she whispered to Ryan, who turned to face her.

"Uh oh," he shook his head. "Better watch out Kelsi, or else you might turn into Miss Christmas." She chuckled.

"I don't know about that," she said.

"Oh just you wait. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I guarantee that by the end of the day, you'll be singing Christmas carols with boundless enthusiasm."

"Boundless enthusiasm?" she giggled at him. "Somehow I doubt that."

"You never know," he reached over to brush a lock of her hair away from her face and in doing so their eyes met and held. Just like that, the moment changed from lighthearted banter between friends to something else. Something different that Kelsi couldn't quite identify. It was at that moment when she became suddenly aware of how close they were and now she thought she understood what was going on. The air between them now seemed to be one of a sort of anticipation mixed with nervousness. Funny how a moment could just change like that, Kelsi thought absently. It was like taking a nice, pleasant walk somewhere and suddenly finding yourself at the edge of a cliff, just a hair aware from falling off and into the unknown. The feeling managed to intrigue and terrify her all at the same time, leaving her torn between wanting to let the moment play out and wanting to run away. She felt her throat go dry as his gaze drifted from her eyes to her mouth and back again, this time with that odd sort of intensity she had seen from him a few days before. She gulped involuntarily, wondering why breathing all of a sudden seemed more difficult. She felt a wave of panic sweep over her as she realized she didn't exactly know what to do. Ultimately, the decision seemed to be already made for her as she found her gaze flickering to his lips while a strange sort of magnetic energy seemed to be pulling them closer together in what felt like slow motion. It was like being under a spell and as he moved closer, she went from being on the edge of a cliff to falling directly off of it. She felt her eyes fluttering shut and his breath on her face as they were moving closer and closer and...

"So what should we watch now?" Kelsi didn't consider herself to be a violent person by any means. In fact, the mere thought of violence was enough to make her feel a little queasy. And she liked Troy a lot; she even thought of him as a brother in a way. But at the moment, the idea of getting up off the loveseat to walk over and strangle him was suddenly very appealing. At his voice, she and Ryan jerked apart in opposite directions in an attempt to look as if they hadn't been a heartbeat away from kissing each other.

"I still vote for the mouse," Jason spoke up.

"How about you guys come up with something?" Sharpay suggested. "Girls, I think we should go to the kitchen and get some snacks."

"I think that's a great idea, Sharpay," Taylor agreed, smirking. Kelsi had to fight to keep her jaw from dropping. Surely Taylor and Sharpay agreeing with each other about something must be a sign of the end times, at least as far as Kelsi was concerned. The two of them could be civil and even friendly to each other now, but they definitely still had their tense moments.

"Um...okay?" Martha said, looking a little bewildered.

"Come on girls," Sharpay stood and led the way, with Taylor and Martha trailing after her. Kelsi and Gabriella looked at each other as they got up to follow. Gabriella shrugged as if she was also a little confused about what this meeting was about.

---------------------------

"We decided to go with _The Santa Claus_," Chad spoke up as the girls returned to the room. "Unless anyone objects."

"No problems here," Taylor spoke up and the rest murmured their agreement. As they all took their seats, most of them - Taylor, Sharpay and Martha – gave Troy slightly dirty looks as they passed him, much to his confusion.

"Did I do something?" he asked, turning to Gabriella as she sat back down next to him. She waited until the movie began and then leaned in towards him.

"Troy? If you feel the need to say anything right after the movie ends?" she smiled sweetly at him. "Don't."

"Um...okay..." he nodded, looking at her strangely. She chuckled.

"I'll explain later," she promised him. As it turned out, Gabriella's warning was for nothing as Kelsi and Ryan spent the next movie basically on either end of the loveseat. By the time that was over, they all decided it was time to go home.

"Okay ladies," Zeke spoke up as everyone started grabbing all of their jackets and whatnot. "I can't," he smirked before he continued, "or rather, I won't, tell you what's happening tomorrow, but as you all know tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We've talked to all the parents involved and you have been cleared to attend certain activities that will be taking place."

"Is this where the cookies come in?" Sharpay grinned at him expectantly.

"Okay, yes, it's where the cookies come in," he laughed.

"What kind of activities?" Taylor asked, eyeing the guys suspiciously.

"Christmas-like ones," Troy answered.

"Christmas-like ones," she repeated. "That's all you're telling us?"

"Yup!" Chad piped up, somewhat gleefully. Kelsi, meanwhile, was trying not to blush as Ryan helped her with her coat. Though it was difficult with both Gabriella and Sharpay looking at them and grinning. Kelsi rolled her eyes playfully.

"Ready?" Ryan asked. He had offered to drive both her and Zeke home since the others were all headed in opposite directions. Ryan led the way to one of his father's many cars and Kelsi insisted that Zeke take the passenger seat. She stayed silent for the most part as they drove first to Zeke's house, thinking about everything that had happened that day. Her Christmas spirit was definitely bouncing back nicely after all of the activities of the day, but at the moment her mind was on other things. Or rather, on other people. Or to be precise, on one person in particular. A person who was currently driving the car. She realized that once Zeke was dropped off, she would be alone with him. A few moments later they found themselves at Zeke's house and after Zeke got out, he opened up the back door for Kelsi.

"No reason for you to sit back there since I'm out," he said, smiling at her. She nodded and got out of the car to move up to the passenger seat. Before Zeke closed the door for her he gasped slightly.

"Hey, it's after midnight," he exclaimed. "It's Christmas Eve!"

"Well then," Ryan grinned. "Merry Christmas Eve!"

"Who says Merry Christmas Eve?" Kelsi asked him, amused. "It's always just Merry Christmas."

"That's all well and good Kelsi, but it's not officially Christmas. It's officially Christmas Eve. And why shouldn't Christmas Eve have its own separate greeting? I think it should," he decided. "And in answer to your question, I just said it and so did you, though it wasn't exactly enthusiastic. So that makes two," Ryan answered, winking at her.

"Well make it three," Zeke chuckled. "Merry Christmas Eve guys!" Both Zeke and Ryan looked at Kelsi, waiting.

"Okay, okay," she laughed softly. "Merry Christmas Eve!"

-----------------------------

"And here we are, milady," Ryan said as he pulled up to a stop. He hopped out of the car and walked around to open her door for her.

"So today we went ice skating and to the hospital and watched Christmas movies," she smiled at him as they slowly walked up the walkway to her front door. "What else can you possibly have planned?"

"You'll find that out in a few hours," he grinned at her. "This was a great day, don't you think?"

"Yes, it was," she studied him. "I feel bad though."

"What for?"

"You're going through all the trouble of planning all these things and it's all pretty much for me," she started.

"Not pretty much," he said softly. "Completely. I mean, it was nice to pull something together with the other guys for all of you, don't get me wrong. But my main reason for doing it is for you and you alone. And it's no trouble, trust me. I like a challenge and I like making you smile."

"Well thanks," she said shyly, looking down briefly. "I guess I'm not used to the attention, especially from a guy. They don't usually..." she trailed off.

"Don't usually what?"

"Notice me. Forget about doing anything for me," she finished. He studied her for a few moments.

"Well they should," he said firmly. "You deserve it. And if there's some people who can't see it, it's their loss."

"Thanks Ryan," she said softly. As they reached her front door, he waited while she pulled out her key and unlocked it. She turned back to him and smiled. "Thanks for everything. For the ride home, for wanting to cheer me up, for your plans...thanks for being my friend in the first place."

"Oh now, you seriously don't expect to say that and not get a hug in return, do you?" he said lightly, though he was moved that she had felt the need to say what she had. She laughed and reached out to hug him. As his arms came around her in response, he turned his head slightly towards her. "And thank you."

"For what?"

"For being my Kelsi," his eyes bugged out slightly when he realized what he had just said and he was grateful she couldn't see his face. "For being Kelsi, that is. Not saying that you're mine because obviously you're not like an object or anything like that." Kelsi laughed.

"I know what you meant," she assured him, amused that he was getting so flustered. "I don't think I've ever heard you ramble on like that," she teased him, pulling back enough to see his face.

"Yeah well...," he said sheepishly. "I guess everyone has their stupid moments. Even people as eloquent and smooth as I usually am," he added, making her laugh again. She noticed that their hug had moved his hat over to one side and impulsively reached up to adjust it for him. As she did so, their eyes met and held again and Kelsi found herself back on the cliff she had been on a few hours before.

"Your um....hat was...um...crooked," she managed.

"Thanks," he said softly. Just like before, there seemed to be a magnetic force of some sort pulling them together. Kelsi was feeling a little nervous about the whole thing, still worried about what would happen if they actually kissed. Her nerves must have shown on her face because his expression changed slightly and he kissed her cheek instead of her lips. "I uh...I should probably get back home," he said finally.

"Um...yeah...you probably should," she sighed, annoyed with herself.

"Well..." he paused as the moment became a little awkward. "I'll see you tomorrow. Well today, actually," he smiled at her. "Goodnight Kelsi."

"Goodnight Ryan," she said and was overcome by a wave of disappointment as he turned and slowly walked back to his car. She walked into her house and as she set her purse down and hung her coat up in the front hall closet, she mentally cursed herself and her nerves. She flopped down on the couch in the family room and sighed, studying the Christmas tree she had helped her parents set up and decorate. Looking at the tree reminded her of how neither her father nor her grandparents would be home for Christmas, but as soon as she started feeling sad about that, other thoughts came to mind. Ryan examining her wrist after she fell. Ryan catching her before she could fall again. Ryan helping her ice skate without hurting herself or anyone else. Ryan talking to her about hope in a hospital. Ryan singing along with one of her favorite movies. Ryan almost kissing her...

She smiled as a new set of feelings came over her. Maybe it all wasn't so bad. She had plans with her friends in a few hours, though she had no idea what those plans were. It was bound to be a great day because all of the guys seemed so excited about it. And there was Ryan, who had been so committed to cheering her up and been so sweet to her, especially the past few days. If she was being honest with herself, she had had a crush on him from the first time she met him. She had managed to deal with it pretty well, but lately those feelings seemed to have changed into something else. She wouldn't go so far to say it was love, at least not yet. It was something else. Something she didn't know how to identify, let alone describe. Though, if she was going to continue being honest with herself, this something had the potential to turn into love. Especially if he felt the same way she did and the way he was acting made her wonder if he actually did. It was then she realized that she hadn't heard the sound of his car driving away. It was a quiet night and all of the neighbors were presumably asleep while Kelsi's house was silent. The family room was also in the front of the house and she definitely would've heard his car if he had already left.

With that thought, she jumped to her feet. If he hadn't left yet, maybe she still had a chance. A chance to march outside and come up with some excuse to talk to him. A chance to take hold of him and...and what? Kelsi stopped as her thoughts now led her in a different direction. What was she thinking? Girls like her, the shy and quiet ones, didn't just barge around grabbing the guys they liked. No, they didn't have the courage to do that so they waited. Waited and hoped that someday the boy they liked would notice them and take action. She shook her head. People like her could never do the kinds of things she had been thinking. With that thought, she turned towards the stairs and got halfway there before she stopped again. Who said people like her couldn't do those things? Wasn't she in control here? She could go upstairs and curse herself for being the way she was, or she could turn around and go outside. Wait around or take action. Before she could analyze it any further she turned towards the front door. Walking quickly and determinedly, she reached the door and yanked it open before she could lose her nerve.

Much to her surprise, Ryan stood directly on the opposite side of it with his hand raised as if he was about to knock.

"You're still here," she said lamely.

"Yeah...I made it back to my car and remembered that I forgot something," he informed her. She remembered then that she had never given him back the jacket she had borrowed a few days ago when it had been raining.

"Your jacket," she nodded. "I can go get it," she started to turn but he grabbed her arm gently to stop her.

"I wasn't talking about my jacket," he said.

"You weren't?" He shook his head. "Then what did you forget?"

"This," he said calmly, pulling her towards him and then reaching up to frame her face with his hands. Kelsi's heart started pounding so fast in response that she was convinced that it would actually find a way to beat itself out of her body. He leaned in and softly brushed his lips against hers, barely making any contact and pulling back almost as soon as he made contact. He studied her face, as if to gauge her reaction and make sure she wasn't about to slap him. She gave him a small smile indicating that it was okay, and he returned it. He leaned back in and kissed her again, longer this time. At first she was unsure of what to do, but after a moment it seemed as if instincts she hadn't known she had kicked in and she kissed him back in response. He kept one hand on her face and moved the other one to the back of her head, gently holding her in place. In an attempt to both keep her arms warm and get a little bit closer to him, she slipped her arms under the jacket he was wearing and wrapped them around his waist. He was kissing her very lightly, but it was enough to send a wave of a strange tingling sensation all the way from her mouth down to her toes. She was very grateful to be holding onto him because she wasn't confident that her knees would be able to hold her up otherwise. The kiss lingered for a few more seconds until he pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. "Wow," he murmured and she couldn't help letting out a small giggle in response.

"Wow," she repeated, in a whisper. He held her close for a few more moments and then eased away again, sliding his hands down her arms until he was holding both of hers.

"Now I really should get home," he grinned at her. "But I'll see you in a few hours." He lifted up both her hands and softly kissed each of them before letting her go.

"Okay," she agreed, feeling as if she had fallen completely under his spell. She watched him walk back to his car and open his door, stopping and looking back at her before he got in.

"Merry Christmas Eve Kelsi," he said.

"Merry Christmas Eve," she grinned back at him and watched as he got in his car and drove away a few moments later. She stayed outside until she couldn't see his car anymore and then turned to go back inside and lock the front door. As she walked, she had an odd sensation of feeling like she was almost floating and even wondered briefly where the floor had gone. She giggled at her own silliness and as she headed up the steps and got ready for bed, she couldn't keep the smile off of her face. She was just getting into her bed when she heard a melody coming from her cell phone, indicating that she had a text message. She flipped it open, noting that she had four text messages instead of just one. One each from Gabriella, Taylor, Martha and even one from Sharpay. All wanting to know how the drive home went. Kelsi giggled and sent each of them the exact same response before falling asleep.

-----------------------------

The next morning, Gabriella woke up and saw that she had a text message on her cell phone. She had fallen asleep pretty soon after she had gotten home so she had missed it when it had first come in. She saw that it was from Kelsi and couldn't get it open fast enough. The message consisted of one word and one word alone: _Amazing!_ Gabriella let out a small squeal, thumbing through her list of contacts until she got to Kelsi's name and dialed. When the composer picked up, Gabriella grinned. "Okay, you have to tell me everything," she said. "Don't leave anything out."


	4. Silent Night

**Disclaimer: Same as the first. I also do not own Martina McBride's version of Silent Night - or any version for that matter.**

**A/N: Happy New Year everyone! I was blown away by the reviews for the last chapter! That was my most reviewed chapter so far and thank you all so much for them! Thank you, also, to anyone who added this to their alerts. This chapter is pretty long and covers all of Christmas Eve. I may do a collection of deleted scenes, one of them being one of Ryan's lessons for Kelsi. Let me know if you're interested in that. A couple of other things: I did some research and the spa featured in this chapter is based on the Ten Thousand Waves spa that happens to have hours on Christmas Eve. In researching that, I found out about something cool that happens in Albuquerque on Christmas Eve and decided to add that in here. Finally, I know it may not be very likely but apparently it does actually snow there sometimes. So keep that in mind. You guys get lucky with this because even though I said it was a four shot (after saying it was a three shot), the way it turned out I haven't gotten to Christmas day yet. So it looks like you all get a bonus chapter! Unless, of course, no one is interested in finding out what happens. ;) ****Hope you guys like this one. Please review! **

* * *

Kelsi shook her head as she hung up her cell phone for the fourth time. Already that morning she had had long conversations with both Gabriella and Martha, and slightly shorter ones with Taylor and Sharpay. All of them had received Kelsi's text message and apparently needed all of the details as soon as possible. It was pretty ridiculous, in Kelsi's opinion, as they would all be seeing each other at some point that day. Then again it might be a little hard to gush about the events of the previous evening with the boys all lurking around. Kelsi looked over as her phone rang for the fifth time, surprised to see Chad's name flashing on the screen.

"Chad?" she asked, answering the phone in disbelief. The two of them were friends and all, but it was pretty unusual to for him to call. Especially in the morning hours.

"Hey Small Person," was the oddly cheerful response. "So what's this about you and Evans?" As she soon found out, Chad had two reasons for calling: one, to find out if her and Ryan were official. Two, to inform Kelsi that he would have to hurt Ryan if he hurt her. His tone was playful though, and as she hung up, she had a sinking feeling she would be getting more phone calls that morning. Sure enough, the phone proceeded to ring three more times. Apparently Troy, Zeke and Jason all wanted convey the same sentiments that Chad had. Kelsi stayed by the phone longer than normal after the last one, just waiting for it to ring again. The phone remained silent and she slowly got up to try and take her shower. She made it about five steps before it rang again.

"Okay, now listen," she sighed as she answered it. "If this is one of the girls, I think I told you just about every single detail about last night. Yes, Ryan is absolutely amazing. If you're one of the guys, I know you all will go after Ryan if he hurts me, though like I said before and like you all agreed, I doubt that would ever happen. And just because he kissed me and it was incredible, doesn't mean we're officially official, so quit asking. I don't know what we are now, though yes, I think we might be headed in that direction...maybe...I hope. Okay? Okay," She ended her speech, feeling proud of herself. She was confident that she had covered any and all bases, regardless of which one of her friends it was. Several seconds of silence followed. "Hello?"

"Incredible, huh?" Kelsi froze and felt her face slowly start to heat up.

"Ryan?" she asked timidly.

"Kelsi," he answered back, sounding extremely amused.

"Can I call you back? I think I'm going to go die of embarrassment now," she was torn between being happy to hear his voice and feeling completely mortified.

"Well don't do that," he said, though she could tell he was trying not to laugh.

"I didn't think it was going to be you calling," she managed.

"Evidently not," he agreed.

"Was there something you wanted? You're delaying my dying." At her last comment, he couldn't hold back his laughter any longer.

"I told you not to do that," he managed after a few moments. He regained his composure and cleared his throat. "How about I call you right back and we'll pretend this whole scene didn't happen."

"Okay," she agreed, unable to stop the smile that spread across her face. She hung up and waited a couple of seconds before it started to ring again. "Hello?"

"Hey Kelsi."

"Hi Ryan."

"I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas Eve, again, and make sure you were up," he informed her.

"Yes," she paused. "Are you going to tell me what we're doing today?"

"Nope!" he answered cheerfully. "But don't worry, the first part of the day will begin very soon. You have about an hour or so to do whatever you have to do to get ready."

"And then what?"

"Then someone will pick you up," he answered.

"I see. And would you be that someone?"

"No, I would not. You'll see who or what it is soon enough. Go get ready," he instructed. "And don't worry about what to wear. You can dress casually for now."

"For now?" Kelsi was intrigued. "What do you mean _for now_?"

"Like I keep telling all of you, that's for me to know," he started.

"And for me to find out," she finished, sighing. "Right?"

"Right," he chuckled. "Okay, go get ready. And Kelsi?"

"Yes?"

"It was more than incredible and if I have it my way, we are definitely headed in that direction," he said softly, causing Kelsi's stomach to fill up with butterflies. "I'll see you later." He hung up before she could respond. A grin spread across her face and stayed there as she got ready to finally take her shower.

----------------------------------

"Morning Mom," Kelsi said brightly as she breezed into the kitchen, feeling oddly refreshed and energized.

"Morning Kelsi," her mom, Karen, said, giving her a knowing look. "I take it you had a good time yesterday?" Kelsi flushed slightly.

"Yes, I did," she smiled again.

"My goodness dear, you're practically dancing," her mom smiled. "Guess who called a little while ago?"

"Well I've already heard from all of my friends," Kelsi shook her head. "So it probably wasn't any of them. Was it Dad?"

"No," Karen said, her smile fading slightly. "Derby Evans."

"Ryan's mom?" Kelsi asked, surprised.

"Yes. I guess Ryan must have told his parents about how the two of us will be here by ourselves tomorrow and she wanted to invite us to spend Christmas day over at their house with them," Karen told her. "So what do you think?"

"I like that idea," Kelsi smiled. "I mean, dad and Grandma and Grandpa can't be here, so we may as well be with some friends."

"That's what I thought. I told her we accepted," her mom said. Before either of them could say anything else, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Kelsi said. She hurried over to the door and opened it to find an older man she had never seen before. "Um can I help you?"

"Are you Miss Nielsen?" the man had a sort of grandfatherly vibe about him that put Kelsi at ease.

"Yes I am," she said slowly.

"Well Miss Nielsen, I have been instructed to pick you and your friends up," he said, smiling at her. She looked past him and gasped as she saw a long white limousine parked in the driveway.

"Oh my gosh," she murmured. She was still gaping at it, when her mom joined her.

"Kelsi who..." her mom started, but trailed off when she saw the limousine. A knowing smile flashed over her face. "Oh yes, your ride." Kelsi turned to face her mother.

"You knew about this?" At her mother's nod, Kelsi's jaw dropped. "Do you know where it's taking us?"

"Yes I do," her mom chuckled. "But Ryan made me promise not to tell you." She handed Kelsi her purse. "Have a good time." Kelsi gave her a small, shocked wave goodbye and then followed the limousine driver out to the limo where he opened up the door for her.

"Thank you," she said softly. As she got in, she saw Sharpay and Gabriella already sitting in there. "Hey guys."

"Hey," Gabriella grinned at her as the driver closed the door and hurried around to the driver seat. "Can you believe this?" she exclaimed.

"Where are we going?" Kelsi asked. Both girls shrugged.

"I tried to get Zeke and Ryan to tell me what we're doing today, but neither one would," Sharpay pouted. "Right now we're off to get Taylor and Martha, but I have no idea where we'll end up."

"This is so exciting," Gabriella was beside herself. "Getting picked up in a limo, being taken off to some unknown place. I can't wait to see what the guys have in store for us."

--------------------------------------

"Shut up!" Gabriella squealed as they finally reached their destination about an hour later and the driver opened up the door for all of them.

"Honestly Gabriella, haven't you ever been to a spa before?" Sharpay rolled her eyes, but Kelsi could detect the excitement in them.

"Actually no," Gabriella answered honestly.

"Neither have I," Martha spoke up. "I've always wanted to go to one though."

"Same here," Kelsi added. Everyone looked at Taylor, who also nodded.

"Oh that's so sad," Sharpay shook her head in a pitying sort of way. "Every girl deserves to be pampered every now and then."

"And apparently Master Evans agrees with that," the limo driver spoke up. "Go along ladies, I'll be here when you're finished," the driver assured them. Sharpay headed into the building first and the four remaining girls thanked the driver before following.

"This is all so fancy," Kelsi whispered to Martha, who nodded.

"And it looks really expensive," she added. "I wonder how much it cost."

"I don't think I want to know," Kelsi shook her head.

"What I want to know," Taylor spoke up, "is how Ryan was able to book packages for all of us on such short notice. And it's Christmas Eve even!" At her words, Sharpay smiled.

"My mom and I come here a lot. They consider us to be very important clients and money talks. Sometimes it pays to be an Evans," she said matter-of-factly.

"Or to know one," Gabriella chimed in.

---------------------------------

By the time the girls finally left the spa, each of them had had a therapeutic massage along with some sort of head and neck treatment. There had also been an herbal wrap and something called a salt glow that left them all with silky skin. They had all finished up with a deluxe facial of some sort. Kelsi was certain that she had never felt more relaxed in her entire life.

"So that's what heaven is like," Martha sighed as they all got back in the waiting limousine.

"Okay," Taylor started. "I know I have a boyfriend and all, but I have to say that I love Ryan right now. Even though he does kind of belong to Kelsi."

"Me too," Gabriella giggled. "Sorry Kelsi."

"Yeah, I guess my brother kind of rocks," Sharpay nodded. "It runs in the family," she added. At that precise moment, Kelsi's cell phone rang.

"I think I've used this phone more today than all the other days I've had it combined," she rolled her eyes playfully. She checked the screen before she answered and grinned. "Hello Mister Christmas. We were just talking about you."

"Good things, I hope?" Ryan asked and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Well I think everyone's in love with you at the moment," Kelsi giggled. The four remaining girls looked at each other and grinned, leaning towards each other and holding a brief conference.

"We love you Ryan!" they all chorused a few seconds later. On the other end of the phone, Kelsi heard Ryan chuckle.

"I take it you ladies had a good time at the spa?" he asked unnecessarily.

"Duh," Kelsi muttered and he let out another chuckle.

"I'm very happy to hear that," he replied. "It'll take you guys about an hour to make it back here."

"And then what?" Kelsi asked, knowing he probably wasn't going to give her an actual answer. She smiled. "Let me guess. That's for you to know and for us to find out. Right?"

----------------------------

The next surprise turned out to be a hair stylist and a makeup artist that both Sharpay and her mother used for special occasions. There was also a selection of dresses for the girls to pick from.

"What in the world?" Kelsi asked, examining the fabric of one of them.

"I bet they're planning some sort of formal dinner," Martha guessed.

"That would explain the clothes," Taylor nodded.

"Speaking of which, how are we supposed to pick? All of these dresses are so pretty," Gabriella sighed. Eventually, after all the hair and make up was completed, each of the girls managed to pick a dress. Sharpay went with a pink one, to no one's surprise. Taylor settled for a simple white one while Gabriella went with a festive red. Martha decided to go with green as green was apparently Jason's favorite color. Kelsi had been unable to pick one, so Sharpay ended up picking one in a color that she called periwinkle.

"I think you might just kill Ryan with that one," Sharpay grinned, studying Kelsi after she had changed.

"Seriously Kelsi," Martha agreed. Kelsi flushed slightly, feeling more and more nervous about seeing him all the time. Before she could comment, there was a knock at the door and Derby Evans poked her head in the room.

"Oh my goodness, you girls look beautiful!" the older woman exclaimed. "I was sent up here to tell you that the limo has returned."

"The limo?" Gabriella looked confused. "I thought we were staying here."

"This is just a little trip. You'll be back here for the final surprise and that's what the dresses are for. It just worked out better to get you all dolled up before you left so they could stay on schedule," Derby explained. "Now come alone, you don't want to keep them waiting."

"Okay girls," Sharpay started, studying the group. "Let's go give some boys some heart attacks." They headed out to the stairs and Sharpay led the group down. The rest of them ended up forming a line of sorts which each one walking a few steps behind the one before. Much to her dismay, Kelsi had found herself at the end of the line. She sighed and concentrated on not falling and crashing into the others. Meanwhile at the bottom of the steps, all of the guys were dressed in basic suits and Ryan's jaw was currently hung open as he spotted Kelsi.

"Dude, breathe," he vaguely heard Chad snicker beside him.

"Like you're one to talk," Zeke spoke up from Chad's other side. "You should've seen the look on your own face when you saw Taylor."

"At least I kept breathing," Chad grinned at Taylor, who had just reached him. "Well...for the most part." Kelsi took another sigh, this one of relief, as she made it safely off the steps. She stopped there though as she spotted Ryan and gave him a very small shy smile. The rest of their friends all watched the scene unfold, most of them with smiles on their faces as Ryan seemed to have lost his ability to speak.

"You look..." he finally started, "like a dream...there aren't...I don't..." She blushed at that.

"Thanks Ryan," she whispered.

"Um," Zeke spoke up softly, not wanting to ruin the moment. "We should probably get going. We have coats for you ladies." Ryan stepped forward and reached out a hand to Kelsi, who took it and let him lead her closer to the door where he helped her with a coat. Once it was on her, he took her hand again and softly kissed it. The group made their way outside to the limo and they piled in.

"Are you going to tell us where we're going _now_?" Sharpay asked, as the limo pulled away.

"Come on girls," Troy smirked at them. "This is Christmas Eve and we're in Albuquerque. Where do you think we're going?"

-----------------------------------

"That was so cool!" Gabriella exclaimed as they all were making their way back into the Evans residence. Being new to the area, she had never seen anything quite like that before.

"It wouldn't be Christmas Eve without going on the Luminaria Tour," Zeke grinned. "We go every year we can."

"So what's up with all the fancy clothes?" Taylor asked.

"We wanted to do something special," Troy started. "And I think you all will like it," he finished mysteriously. He led the way into the formal dining hall which was elaborately decorated with Christmas decorations and had a table full of food. "Zeke and the Evans' personal cook have been working all day while we've been setting up. We will be enjoying a formal Christmas Eve dinner and afterwards, we will be moving outside."

"Outside?" Gabriella looked at him, confused. "It's cold out there!"

"It is, yes," Ryan agreed and shot the girl a smile. "But not on the tennis court where we have a bunch of those outdoor heaters."

"Even so," Martha began. "What are we going to do outside?"

"You'll see," Jason winked at her. "But for now, let's eat!"

--------------------------------------

Kelsi was the first one to gasp when, after a delicious meal, they were led out to the tennis court which had been transformed into a winter wonderland.

"This doesn't even look like a tennis court!" Martha exclaimed, surprised as well.

"That was the idea," Chad chuckled.

"So why exactly did you transform the tennis court?" Taylor asked.

"To make it into a makeshift dance floor," Troy answered. Someone must have hit a button or sent some sort of signal because at that moment music started playing. "We've come up with a collection of Christmas music, some of those are the classics and others are just other Christmas related songs."

"We're having our own dance?" Gabriella asked, smiling at the idea.

"Yup," Zeke grinned. "We thought it'd be a nice thing to do, stay away from other people and spend the holiday with each other. You girls get a hopefully romantic, at least somewhat, dance. And we get to have you lovely ladies to ourselves."

---------------------------------

"So tell me," Ryan began, as he was dancing with Kelsi, "has this been a good Christmas Eve?" She laughed at that, shaking her head.

"Ryan, I spent the morning at a spa getting pampered and then got to have my hair styled and make up done. I got to wear this beautiful dress and go on a private bus tour with my friends. I then got a wonderful dinner and now I'm here dancing with you under the stars," she let out another laugh. "It's been amazing."

"Just making sure," he said, shrugging lightly. "I still can't get over how soft your skin is," he added. "I like that." Kelsi was suddenly grateful that it was fairly dark because otherwise he would see her skin turning bright red.

"It should be soft, they did enough stuff to it," was her response. He chuckled at that before turning thoughtful.

"Ready for your last lesson?" She nodded. "I'm going to tell you the secret of Christmas."

"There's a secret?" she asked, amused. It was his turn to nod.

"It's not the things we do at Christmas time. It's not the gifts or the decorations or the food," he started. "It's not all the cards we send out every year and it's not the music. All of those things are great things and are definitely part of Christmas. But the _secret_ of Christmas is in the Christmas things we do all year round. The little or big things that we do that help to spread love and joy and hope and faith to others. And as long as commit ourselves to doing those things, the spirit of Christmas will be with us all year. So when Christmas does come around, we don't need to try and find it. It'll just be there."

"I like that," she smiled at him. "I like that a lot actually."

"I try," he carefully brushed some of her curls away from her face.

"You know Ryan," she said softly. "I think there's something I've forgotten to do today."

"What's that?" he asked, a little confused. She took a deep breath and then smirked.

"This," she said. She slowly moved her hand up to his neck and gently tugged him closer to her, studying his eyes for a moment before leaning up to give him a chaste kiss. As she pulled back, Kelsi was shocked to feel something cold land on her cheek. "What in the world?" She looked around, as did the rest of them, and gasped. "It's snowing!" It was very light and they all knew that the odds were that it wouldn't stick to the ground. Any and all traces would most likely be gone by morning, but it was indeed snowing. "It's actually snowing!" The air around them all suddenly seemed magical. At that moment the song changed and the brief opening to Martina McBride's version of "Silent Night" began playing.

"_Silent night, holy night_," Gabriella surprised them all by starting to sing along softly, though Sharpay came in for the next line.

"_All is calm, all is bright_," the two girls sang together, looking at each other and smiling. The group of friends slowly started moving closer together as Ryan, Troy and Martha joined in, "_Round yon virgin mother and child." _They were joined by Kelsi and Zeke, "_Holy infant so tender and mild._" At that point everyone else also added their voices so they were all singing softly, "_Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace..._"


	5. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

**Disclaimer: The idea for this story came from the song "The Secret of Christmas" by SHEDaisy and Ryan's lesson to Kelsi about the secret of Christmas was adapted from a part of the song. I definitely don't own the song or anything else.**

**A/N: Yeah so it's two weeks after Christmas and I'm just now getting the Christmas chapter up. Oh well. This is the final chapter and I have to say, I'm sorry to be finishing this one. It was fun to write and I was completely blown away by the response it got. Thank you so much to everyone who read, put this on alerts and/or reviewed! Deleted scenes are coming! Those will all be in a "new" story that will be called More Secrets of Christmas. So look out for that - there may be a few bonuses for you all in there.**** Thanks again for all the support for this story! I appreciate it so much. Hope you guys like the final chapter!**

* * *

"Welcome!" Derby Evans said cheerfully as Kelsi and her mother, Karen, walked into her home. "It's so nice to have you both with us on Christmas," the woman added warmly. She had spent the morning in a near panic worrying about spending the holiday with Ryan and his family, but she started to relax. She had to keep reminding herself that just because Sharpay had been a terror in the past, it didn't mean that her parents were the same way. In fact, Derby and Vance Evans were surprisingly laid back.

"Thank you for inviting us, Derby," Karen said, smiling at her.

"Please come join us in the dining room," Derby said. "Brunch is almost ready." She linked arms with Karen and led the way while Kelsi lingered in the foyer.

"Hey Kelsi!" Kelsi glanced at the staircase to see Sharpay on her way down.

"Hey Sharpay," Kelsi replied automatically, though she couldn't help the nerves from coming out a little bit.

"I'm not going to attack or anything," Sharpay smiled at her. "Relax, it's Christmas! And we've had a lot of great days lately."

"I know, I just..." Kelsi trailed off, unsure of whether or not to continue. After all, she still wasn't so sure that Sharpay could be considered a friend. But she couldn't deny how the blonde actually looked interested in what she was about to say. "I know it's silly, I'm just nervous about being here with all of you."

"All of us or one of us in particular?" Sharpay asked with a knowing smirk.

"Well maybe one of you in particular," Kelsi chuckled. "Where is he anyway?"

"On his way back," Sharpay replied. "He had something to take care of this morning. Hey, did you eat yet?"

"Not yet," Kelsi eyed her for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sharpay answered quickly. Too quickly. A look that could only be described at mischievous flashed in her eyes for a moment and Kelsi wondered if she was hiding something. "Come on, let's go eat!" She grabbed Kelsi's arm and halfway tugged her to the dining room. Kelsi went to sit next to her mother, but Sharpay stopped here. "Here sit next to me, in the middle here," she said, pointing. "Ryan will want the seat on the other side of you when he gets back."

"Um...okay," Kelsi sat down, studying Sharpay suspiciously as she did so.

"Where is Ryan?" Karen spoke up, looking first at Sharpay and then at Derby. "And Vance?"

"Ryan had an errand to run for me, but I expect him back home any minute now," Derby answered. "And Vance had to go to the office for a couple of hours," she added, rolling her eyes. "Men and their work."

"Well at least your men will be here for Christmas," Karen said, giving Derby a somewhat sad smile. "Mine's in D.C. at the moment." At that moment, they all heard the sound of the front door opening.

"That's probably Ryan now," Derby smiled. Sure enough, a few seconds later Ryan walked into the dining room.

"Merry Christmas everyone!" he said brightly. "I hope you guys don't mind, but I brought a guest."

"Of course not, Ducky," Derby grinned at her son, who rolled his eyes at the nickname. "Anyone we know?" Ryan laughed at that.

"Yeah, I think this is someone you've all met," Ryan stepped aside and a moment later Kelsi heard her mother gasp.

"Keith?" Kelsi turned around and let out a gasp of her own.

"Dad?" she asked. Across the table, Karen got up from her seat and hurried around the table to her husband. "Dad! You're here!" Kelsi hopped up from her seat and joined her parents.

"What are you doing here?" Karen asked, stunned. "You're supposed to be in D.C.!"

"I was," Keith Nielsen smiled at both of them. "But apparently someone here convinced their father to invest a lot of money into the company," his smile widened into a grin. "As long as they let me come back home so I could spend Christmas with my girls." Kelsi spun around to face Ryan.

"You..." she started. "You...how...why..." she trailed off, unable to finish.

"Well actually, this idea was Sharpay's," he said, surprising her yet again. Sharpay scooted her chair back and joined them.

"You did this?" Kelsi shook her head in disbelief. "This was really nice of you Sharpay, but I have to ask...why?" Sharpay smiled at her briefly before growing more serious.

"I've done some horrible things to you and I know we've made some progress, but I wanted to do something nice for you. Something important as a way to try and make it up to you, at least a little bit. Ryan told me about your dad having to work and somehow I remembered that Daddy had done business with the company before. So I put the idea in his head and he was all too happy to help out," Sharpay smiled at her again. "Consider this my Christmas present to you...and your parents. Merry Christmas, Kelsi."

"Sharpay...this was...I don't," Kelsi took a breath and decided that it would probably be best to keep it simple. "Thank you."

"Yes, thank you Sharpay," Karen stepped forward to give the blonde girl a hug. "This was very sweet of you."

"I have my moments," Sharpay chuckled. "Now seriously, the food is getting cold and I'm starving. Let's eat already!"

"You knew about this," Kelsi said to Ryan, smiling as he carefully pushed her chair in after she had sat back down.

"Yup," he answered.

"And you didn't tell me," she raised an eyebrow in an attempt to look serious.

"Nope. It was supposed to be a surprise," he looked over her head at Sharpay, who laughed.

"Yes, we Evans are just full of surprises," Sharpay said.

"Apparently," Kelsi shook her head again. "But this is it right?" She looked back and forth between the two. "No more surprises?"

"No more surprises," Ryan said, before smirking slightly. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Kelsi gaped at him. "What does that mean?"

"It means that maybe there are no more surprises. And maybe they are," he winked at her. "Sharpay's right, the food's getting cold." Kelsi gaped at him for another moment and glanced at the food on her plate that she couldn't remember even putting there. Before she could even pick up her fork, he surprised her by leaning over and kissing her cheek. "And by the way...Merry Christmas," he said softly.

-----------------------------------

"I have a confession," Kelsi said later on. Ryan and Kelsi had excused themselves from the others for a little while and were currently walking around the grounds.

"A confession huh? About what?" he asked, intrigued.

"I had a really hard time figuring out what to get you for Christmas," she shook her head. "At first I thought about getting you a new hat, but that didn't work. I looked but there were a bunch I know you have and then there were others I thought you may already have, but I wasn't sure so I didn't get any of them. Out of the remaining ones I saw, there weren't any I really liked for you. And then I had a really hard time trying to think of something else."

"It's not a big deal Kelsi, really. The best present you could ever give me is just being with me," he said sincerely. Kelsi felt herself blush at his words. Again.

"Now how am I supposed to tell you about your present if you keeping saying stuff like that?"

"Sorry," he bit back a smile. "Go on, I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Okay," she studied him to make sure he was going to keep his word. When he remained silent, she continued. "I actually didn't have anything for you for the longest time. There didn't seem to be anything I could buy for you that you didn't already have. It wasn't until I got home last night that I got inspired. If I couldn't buy you anything, I could write you something," she paused. "So I got behind the keyboard and wrote you a song. Well actually, I wrote you most of a song. It still needs some finishing up, but I was hoping we could work on that together."

------------------------------------------

They spent some time in the music room doing just that. The whole process actually didn't take them as long as Kelsi had thought it would. Once they had the song where they wanted it and Ryan had declared that he loved it, they started playing Christmas songs.

"Sorry to interrupt guys," Sharpay said from the doorway. "But I'm supposed to tell you that Daddy's home," she informed them, smirking at Ryan who nodded.

"Thanks Sharpay," he said, before turning back to Kelsi. "Good...he made it home for dinner."

"I was getting worried about that," Kelsi confessed. "And feeling bad because you guys got my dad here and yours has been missing. He's been at the office for a while now."

"Well," Ryan said, looking like he might be hiding a smile. "This was important...hey, I have a question for you."

"Um...okay," she said.

"What's your favorite Christmas song?"

"Hmm," Kelsi pondered the question. "We used to sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem"...Of course that was when we could spend the holiday with my grandparents. That's my Grandma's favorite...I guess it kind of rubbed off on me," she smiled. It was a sad smile though and he moved his arm around his shoulders.

"You miss her."

"Yes," Kelsi nodded. "It feels like it's been forever since we saw them," she sighed. "I was really looking forward to seeing them this year. Especially since I finally learned how to play that song. Last time I saw them I had just gotten my own keyboard and I told my Grandma I'd learn how to play it so I could play it for her."

"Well I'm not your Grandma, obviously, but...would you mind playing it for me?" he asked gently.

"Sure, why not? May as well play it for someone right? Will you sing along?" she asked.

"Of course," he nodded. Kelsi started playing and smiled as he started singing along as promised. She let her eyes close as she played, getting caught up in the song. They flew back open, though, when she heard someone else start singing near the end of the song. She glanced at Ryan, who was grinning at her. "Turn around," he suggested. She slowly twisted towards the entry of the room and gasped as she spotted who had been singing along.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered, her eyes filling up with tears. "Grandma?" She got up from the bench and stepped around it. "Grandpa?" She looked back at forth between the two for a moment before rushing into her grandmother's waiting arms. "I didn't think you could get a flight!" she cried, moving to hug her grandfather. "How did you find one?" She was crying openly now.

"I think you should ask your young man that," her grandfather spoke up, smiling over her head at Ryan. Kelsi turned towards him.

"Remember when you asked if your dad coming was the end of the surprises and I said maybe?" Ryan started. "Well _this _was the final surprise."

"But how? All the flights were booked." She was stunned.

"That's true," he agreed. "But it just so happens that my dad has a pilot's license and owns his own plane." He waited while what he said sunk in.

"Wait a second," she said slowly. "Your dad was supposed to be at the office..." she trailed off as realization hit her. "He was never at the office," she whispered. "He was flying out to get my grandparents." She covered her mouth with her hand for a few moments, overcome.

"I knew how much you wanted to see them," he explained. "I asked my dad to do a favor for me and he was happy to help."

"Oh Ryan," she shook her head, still crying.

"Merry Christmas Kelsi," he said softly. She let out a soft laugh of utter disbelief and held her hand out to him.

"Well come here," she managed. "Meet my grandparents." A few minutes later, they were joined by Sharpay who gave them all a sheepish smile.

"Sorry to interrupt," she laughed softly. "Again. But there's a phone call for you Ryan."

"I'll go get it in another room," Ryan said, giving Kelsi and her grandparents another smile before he left.

-------------------------------------

Kelsi spent the next several minutes with her grandparents, before they all went to join the others in the family room. She located Vance Evans and walked over to him.

"Thank you," she said shyly. "For flying out for my grandparents."

"You're very welcome Kelsi," he said, giving her a warm smile. She glanced around the room, noticing that Ryan was missing.

"Where'd Ryan go?" she asked the room in general.

"He was on the phone over in the living room," Sharpay offered. "I think we're about to move into the dining room for dinner, but you might find him walking around." Kelsi thanked her and then left the room to begin her search.

"Kelsi!" she turned her head to find Ryan walking towards her, looking excited. "Guess what?" he asked. She smiled as she hurried to meet him.

"Hold on," she said, holding her hand up to stop him before he started talking. "You have given me one of the most amazing weeks of my life, if not _the_ most amazing week of my life, even though it didn't start out so well. You helped me find my Christmas spirit and now you've topped it all off by having my grandparents brought here knowing how much it meant to me," she could feel her eyes filling up with fresh tears, but she ignored them. "I don't know how I could even try to thank you..."

"Aw Kelsi, you don't have to worry about that," he interjected softly. She shook her head.

"Yes I do," she argued. "I don't think I can even find the words but there is something else I can do." She grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him towards her, kissing him with an intensity that surprised them both. She was blushing by the time she pulled away. "Oops...I didn't mean to get so carried away..." she said sheepishly as she took in his slightly dazed expression. "Sorry...maybe we should head to the dining room..."

"We could," he said, grinning. "Or..." he leaned in to kiss her with the same intensity she had shown. "I think I like this idea better." Kelsi couldn't help giggling.

"Yes but if we stay here much longer, the parents may start looking," she wrinkled her nose at him. "And my parents seem to love you now, but I don't think my dad would appreciate seeing that."

"You may have a point," he agreed, wincing at the thought.

"Of course," she started, giving him a shy smile. "That's not to say that we shouldn't revisit this idea at some other time."

"Some other time would definitely be good," he laughed.

"But hey, what did you want to tell me? Before I attacked you."

"Oh yeah! The phone call!" The excitement was back in his voice as he remembered what he had been about to tell her. "That was the hospital. Remember those music books you got?"

"Yeah...for that girl who wanted the piano, but needed the transplant."

"Yeah. We might want to get those wrapped up for her," his smile softened as her mouth dropped open.

"Get those wrapped up for her," she repeated. "Does that mean...Did she..." she trailed off, not sure she wanted to finish in case she was mistaken.

"She got her transplant," he confirmed. "They just finished the operation."

"She's going to be okay?" Kelsi asked, excitement in her voice now as well.

"Well they're going to be monitoring her for the next couple of days just to make sure that everything goes well..." He broke into a grin. "But so far, it looks like her body's going to accept it. The doctor's are pretty sure that she'll be okay!"

"Oh! It's a miracle!" she squealed, flinging her arms around his neck happily. "On Christmas even!" Ryan picked her up and spun her around.

"Gee, miracles happening on Christmas?" He shook his head in mock disbelief. "Imagine my shock!"

"Okay, okay...you were right," she admitted. "Miracles do still happen and Christmas is all about them. You believed she'd get her transplant and she did. You believed you'd get me in the spirit and you did. You were right about everything."

"Of course I was right," he nodded seriously. "I'm not called Mister Christmas for nothing, you know."

"That's true," she agreed, giggling again. "Merry Christmas Ryan, this has been an amazing one. Thanks for not only being Mister Christmas, but for being _my_ Mister Christmas."

"Anytime," he smiled. "Thanks for not only being Kelsi, but for being _my _Kelsi."

"Guys, dinner's ready!" Sharpay called from the other end of the hallway.

"Come on." Ryan took Kelsi's hand in his and they slowly made their way to the dining room to join their families for a wonderful Christmas dinner. Afterwards everyone gathered around the piano as a group and sang a round of Christmas carols. As she watched everyone singing along as she played, Kelsi was struck by an odd feeling that this might be the first of many holidays both families celebrated together. The magic of the past few days seemed to be setting the stage for something that would grow more meaningful as time passed. As she watched them all, Kelsi also had the feeling that all of them would spend more time doing whatever they could to make the world a better place. To spread love and faith and hope to people who needed it and in doing so, would have the spirit of the holiday all year. When all was said and done, that truly was the secret of Christmas.


End file.
